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Beau used to have a nice level back at one time with no dip behind his shoulders. I started conditioning him, he lost weight, he had bad saddle fit and bad balance problems. Now he tends to have that dread dip behind the shoulders. I don’t think this was just a genetics issue. He was halter bred, and has that tendency, but if I knew then what I know now, he wouldn’t be having the problems that we went thru.
I had him shod with wide web shoes and that helps a lot – did you check into this? Good farrier work is critical for a horse like this. Last year I was able to work with my farrier and get good results, but moved this year and having problems with farriers, and therefore problems with balance.
I also found that his back gets a lot stronger with some good rounded canter work uphill. But you may have to take steps backward, not ride and do ground work to build the back up again. I was given this advice, and it was the best advice. I also started riding with a ReactorPanel saddle and that has made an awesome difference.
Just finished a tough 50 at the Ride and Tie Championship in Euer Valley on Beau. The new farrier put on shoes with too much “grab” (not the wide web flat shoes) and he got B’s on gait and impulsion consistently from pre-ride vet to post-ride vet. He normally gets A’s.
But we finished with a horse with weak loins. Beau hasn’t been sore in his loins for a couple of years. No swelling in his legs at all despite all the rough, rocky footing. And I don’t ice his legs afterwards (yet).
Great ride – I’ll write a ride report soon.
K.
-----Original Message-----
From: CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com [mailto:CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 8:22 PM
To: lbm@naisp.net; harpy@io.com
Cc: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Re: Weak Loin
In a message dated Fri, 14 Sep 2001 5:16:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net> writes:
> The Pan Am Championship was
> the first time I had a chance examine leading endurance horses
> close up--especially during the Best Condition judging--and try
> to assess their conformation to try to find any common thread
> (bone, neck, chest, legs, feet, whatever...)
>
> The one fact about their conformation that really stood out?
> All of the horses standing for BC had uniformly *outstanding*
> strong backs. No dippyness behind the withers. No dippy loins
> (the curse of the Morgan breed). Just these razor-straight,
> level backs that blended perfectly into their rumps.
This is something that really started to impress me several years ago as a ride vet, too. Over the years I'd been taught the old standard of evaluating a horse from the ground up--legs, legs, legs! But as I examined more and more successes and failures, the most common denominator I found among the failures was POOR backs. Time and time again, I've seen horses with excellent legs go lame because of compensating for back problems. When their backs won't carry weight efficiently, they compensate--they get more concussion all around, and A LOT more strain on the hind legs, trying to use them to make up for the lack of rounding in the back. Not to mention just plain sore backs--something I've seen rise to an alarming level among endurance horses, since most entry level horses in this sport are the "cast-offs" from modern show breeding programs, where bad backs abound.
I've completely revamped how I evaluate riding horses now--I START with the backs and the balance of the body, and if I don't like what I see, I don't even bother to look at the legs...
Heidi
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